warning: This will be a long post and is not for the faint-hearted. Feel free to click away now-no hard feelings. If you're still interested, get a cup of coffee and join me on this fun journey.
May 16, 2009 I graduated from seminary. It was a great weekend, and not just because I finally got that silly MDiv, but because Adam and I were planning our new journey together. We were quitting our jobs, leaving our life here in Birmingham, moving to seminary, and moving on to the mission field. It was all planned out. It was going be great. We even had a big going away bash with our SS buddies.
Then, we woke up one morning pregnant.
Talk about unexpected. It was June 10. We had both quit our jobs, given away most of our furniture, and put down a rather large down payment on an apartment in New Orleans. It took us a moment or two to adjust to this news, but soon we were on our way reorganizing life and starting all over again in Birmingham. God was more than gracious: we both got our jobs back-mine considerably improved I might add-we were able to stay in our house, and our friends even let us keep our going away presents!
Then we entered a nine-month journey of unexpected events. I had not ever really considered being pregnant, and I knew nothing about pregnancy, so all the crazy changes in my body were a hysterical journey. The worst of which of course was Bell's Palsy. One Saturday morning I rolled over in bed to kiss Adam and got concerned because I couldn't kiss him: I mean I literally couldn't make kissy lips. He laughed at me until he turned the lamp on and saw my face... Long story short, one half of my face was paralyzed. It was a really humbling journey where I learned to be grateful for God's provision, compassionate towards others, and where I felt more loved than ever by my husband who insisted that I looked beautiful even though I looked like a freak. Can't believe I'm doing it, but here's my awesome pirate picture:
All in all, pregnancy was awesome. I especially enjoyed the end where my tummy was huge and I could feel my little girl all the time. Last time I posted was January 16th. I was all excited because Adam and I were having a fun day together reminiscing about our life together and checking things off the to-do list, which is our favorite. We cleaned the nursery, went grocery shopping, and headed over to Melanie's to help her fix a broken spot on her new hard wood floors. I had actually left food cooking in the oven because we were having friends over for dinner. But on the way home from Melanie's house I realized something was up. My water broke three weeks before Chloe Belle's due date? When would things quit being so crazy and out of left field???
We cancelled our dinner plans, threw a bag together, and headed for the hospital. Although my water had broken, the rest of my body was not ready for a baby. They gave me medicine to open my cervix (not fun) and I started having contractions. I had back labor all night Saturday night (super not fun) and Sunday around 6 am they induced labor and gave me an epidural. I almost kissed the anesthesiologist. At this point I'm feeling good and ready to go.
However, our little baby, who has a penchant for surprises, had other ideas. She threw a temper tantrum and they had to stop my pitocin, which also stopped labor. I didn't progress anymore, so around 9 the doctor came in and announced I was having a c-section...in 15 minutes. You guessed it-unexpected!
Little Chloe Belle Keel arrived Sunday, January 17th at 10:10 am weighing 7 lbs 3 oz, measuring 20 inches long, and decidedly the most beautiful baby girl of all time.
Just a few hours later we realized Chloe Belle's blood sugar was dangerously low, and several bottles of sugary formula did not bring it up. She left us for the NICU around 2:00 that afternoon. Wow, talk about unexpected worry and heartache. However, God is faithful, gracious, and consistent. Chloe came back to us Tuesday morning. The next several days were full of unexpected obstacles and bumps in the road: Chloe Belle started having high bilirubin scores, I ran a 102 fever for about 24 hours and developed early mastitis (crazy painful), and our hospital stay kept getting extended day after day. But, on Friday morning we were both declared healthy enough to go home. Yay! Here's Chloe Belle dressed up and ready to go home:
We've been home now for a few days and we're starting to adjust to life with our precious little girl. Although we're both incredibly sleep deprived, we have a new set of unexpecteds to deal with.
unexpected beauty:
unexpected joy:
and overwhelming love:
Praise God who has poured out His love upon us by giving us His Son and calling us His children! And what a good Father He is, giving us such very good gifts.
Thanks for hanging in there with me and ready all about Chloe Belle's arrival. If you want to see more pics, Adam has a ton up on facebook.